History

Name

Leipzig in the 17th century

The name Leipzig is derived from the Slavic word Lipsk, which means "settlement where the linden trees (British English: lime trees; U.S. English: basswood trees) stand".[17] An older spelling of the name in English is Leipsic. The Latin name Lipsia was also used.[18] The name is cognate with Lipetsk (Липецк) in Russia and Liepāja in Latvia.[19]

In 1937 the Nazi government officially renamed the city Reichsmessestadt Leipzig (Imperial Trade Fair City Leipzig).[20]

Since 1989 Leipzig has been informally dubbed "Hero City" (Heldenstadt), in recognition of the role that the Monday demonstrations there played in the fall of the East German regime – the name alludes to the honorary title awarded in the former Soviet Union to certain cities that played a key role in the victory of the Allies during the Second World War.[21] The common usage of this nickname for Leipzig up until the present is reflected, for example, in the name of a popular blog for local arts and culture, Heldenstadt.de.[22]

More recently, the city has sometimes been nicknamed the "Boomtown of eastern Germany", "Hypezig" or "The better Berlin" for being celebrated by the media as a hip urban centre for the vital lifestyle and creative scene with many startups.[23][24][25][26]

Origins

Leipzig was first documented in 1015 in the chronicles of Bishop Thietmar of Merseburg as urbs Libzi (Chronikon VII, 25) and endowed with city and market privileges in 1165 by Otto the Rich. Leipzig Trade Fair, started in the Middle Ages, has become an event of international importance and is the oldest surviving trade fair in the world.

There are records of commercial fishing operations on the river Pleisse in Leipzig dating back to 1305, when the Margrave Dietrich the Younger granted the fishing rights to the church and convent of St Thomas.[27]

There were a number of monasteries in and around the city, including a Franciscan monastery after which the Barfußgäßchen (Barefoot Alley) is named and a monastery of Irish monks (Jacobskirche, destroyed in 1544) near the present day Ranstädter Steinweg (the old Via Regia).

19th century

The Leipzig region was the arena of the 1813 Battle of Leipzig between Napoleonic France and an allied coalition of Prussia, Russia, Austria and Sweden. It was the largest battle in Europe before the First World War and the coalition victory ended Napoleon's presence in Germany and would ultimately lead to his first exile on Elba. The Monument to the Battle of the Nations celebrating the centenary of this event was completed in 1913. In addition to stimulating German nationalism, the war had a major impact in mobilizing a civic spirit in numerous volunteer activities. Many volunteer militias and civic associations were formed, and collaborated with churches and the press to support local and state militias, patriotic wartime mobilization, humanitarian relief and postwar commemorative practices and rituals.[28]

In the 19th century, Leipzig was a centre of the German and Saxon liberal movements. The first German labor party, the General German Workers' Association (Allgemeiner Deutscher Arbeiterverein, ADAV) was founded in Leipzig on 23 May 1863 by Ferdinand Lassalle; about 600 workers from across Germany travelled to the foundation on the new railway. Leipzig expanded rapidly to more than 700,000 inhabitants. Huge Gründerzeit areas were built, which mostly survived both war and post-war demolition.

20th century

With the opening of a fifth production hall in 1907, the Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei became the largest cotton mill company on the continent, housing over 240,000 spindles. Daily production surpassed 5 million kilograms of yarn.[29]

Several thousand forced labourers were stationed in Leipzig during the Second World War.

Beginning in 1933, many Jewish citizens of Leipzig were members of the Gemeinde, a large Jewish religious community spread throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In October 1935, the Gemeinde helped found the Lehrhaus (English: a house of study) in Leipzig to provide different forms of studies to Jewish students who were prohibited from attending any institutions in Germany. Jewish studies were emphasized and much of the Jewish community of Leipzig became involved.[31]

Like all other cities claimed by the Nazis, Leipzig was subject to to aryanisation. Beginning in 1933 and increasing in 1939, Jewish business owners were forced to give up their possessions and stores. This eventually intensified to the point where Nazi officials were strong enough to evict the Jewish people from their own homes. They also had the power to force many of the Jews living in the city to sell their houses. Many people who sold their homes emigrated elsewhere, outside of Leipzig. Others moved to Judenhäuser, which were smaller houses that acted as ghettos, housing large groups of people.[31]

As with other cities in Europe during the Holocaust, the Jewish people of Leipzig were impacted greatly by the Nuremberg Laws. However, due to the Leipzig Trade Fair and the international attention it garnered, Leipzig was especially cautious about its public image. Despite this, the Leipzig authorities were not afraid to strictly apply and enforce anti-semitic measures.[31] Shortly before Kristallnacht, Polish Jews living in the city were expelled.[31]

On December 20, 1937, after the Nazis took control of the city, they renamed it Reichsmessestadt Leipzig, meaning the "Imperial Trade Fair City Leipzig".[32] In early 1938, Leipzig saw an increase in Zionism through Jewish citizens. Many of these Zionists attempted to flee before deportations began.[31] On October 28, 1938, Heinrich Himmler ordered the deportation of Polish Jews from Leipzig to Poland.[31][33]

In 1933, a census recorded that over 11,000 Jews were living in Leipzig. In the 1939 census, the number had fallen to roughly 4,500, and by January 1942 only 2,000 remained. In that month, these 2,000 Jews began to be deported.[31] On July 13, 1942, 170 Jews were deported from Leipzig to Auschwitz Concentration Camp. On September 19, 1942, 440 Jews were deported from Leipzig to Theresienstadt Concentration Camp. On June 18, 1943, the remaining 18 Jews still in Leipzig were deported from Leipzig to Auschwitz Concentration Camp. According to records of the two waves of deportations to Auschwitz there were no survivors. According to records of the Theresienstadt deportation, only 53 Jews survived.[31][36]

Until late 1943, there was little threat of aerial bombings to the city. However, on the morning of December 4, 1943, the British Royal Air Force dropped over 1,000 tons of explosives, resulting in the death of nearly 1,000 civilians.[37] This bombing was the largest up to that time. Due to the close proximity of many of the buildings hit, a firestorm occurred. This prompted firefighters to rush to the city; however, the storm was too overwhelming for them. Unlike its neighbouring city of Dresden, this was a largely conventional bombing with high explosives rather than incendiaries. The resultant pattern of loss was a patchwork, rather than wholesale loss of its centre, but was nevertheless extensive.

The Allied ground advance into Germany reached Leipzig in late April 1945. The U.S. 2nd Infantry Division and U.S. 69th Infantry Division fought their way into the city on April 18 and completed its capture after fierce urban action, in which fighting was often house-to-house and block-to-block, on April 19, 1945.[38] In April of 1945 the Deputy Mayor of Leipzig, Ernest Lisso, his wife, daughter, and a Volkssturm Major Walter Dönicke committed suicide in Leipzig City Hall.

21st century

Nowadays, Leipzig is an important economic center in Germany. Since the 2010s, the city has been celebrated by the media as a hip urban center with a very high quality of living.[42][43][44] It is often called "The new Berlin".[45] Leipzig is also Germany's fastest growing city.[46] Leipzig was the German candidate for the 2012 Summer Olympics, but was unsuccessful. After ten years of construction, the Leipzig City Tunnel opened on 14 December 2013.[47] Leipzig forms the centerpiece of the S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland public transit system, which operates in the four German states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Brandenburg.

Although there are some forest parks within the city limits, the area surrounding Leipzig is relatively unforested. During the 20th century, there were several open-cast mines in the region, many of which are being converted to use as lakes.[48] Also see: Neuseenland

Leipzig is also situated at the intersection of the ancient roads known as the Via Regia (King's highway), which traversed Germany in an east-west direction, and the Via Imperii (Imperial Highway), a north-south road.

Leipzig was a walled city in the Middle Ages and the current "ring" road around the historic centre of the city follows the line of the old city walls.

Subdivision

Since 1992 Leipzig has been divided administratively into ten districts, which in turn contain a total of 63 subdistricts. Some of these correspond to outlying villages which have been annexed by Leipzig.

Neighbouring communities

Climate

Leipzig has an oceanic climate (Cfb in the Köppen climate classification). Winters are variably mild to cold, with an average of around 1 °C (34 °F). Summers are generally warm, averaging at 19 °C (66 °F) with daytime temperatures of 24 °C (75 °F). Precipitation in winter is about half that of the summer. The amount of sunshine is very different between winter and summer, with an average of around 51 hours of sunshine in December (1.7 hours a day) compared with 229 hours of sunshine in July (7.4 hours a day).

Leipzig has a population of about 570,000. In 1930 the population reached its historical peak of over 700,000. It decreased steadily from 1950 until 1989 to about 530,000. In the 1990s the population decreased rather rapidly to 437,000 in 1998. This reduction was mostly due to outward migration and suburbanization. After almost doubling the city area by incorporation of surrounding towns in 1999, the number stabilized and started to rise again with an increase of 1,000 in 2000.[51] As of 2015, Leipzig is the fastest-growing city in Germany with over 500,000 inhabitants.[52]
The growth of the past 10–15 years has mostly been due to inward migration. In recent years inward migration accelerated, reaching an increase of 12,917 in 2014.[53]

In the years following German reunification many people of working age took the opportunity to move to the states of the former West Germany to seek work. This was a contributory factor to falling birth rates. Births dropped from 7,000 in 1988 to less than 3,000 in 1994.[54] However, the number of children born in Leipzig has risen since the late 1990s. In 2011 it reached 5,490 newborns resulting in a RNI of -17.7 (-393.7 in 1995).[55]

The unemployment rate decreased from 18.2% in 2003 to 9.8% in 2014 and 7.6% in June 2017.[56][57][58]

The percentage of the population with an immigrant background is low compared with other German cities. As of 2012, only 5.6% of the population were foreigners, compared to the German overall average of 7.7%.[59]

The number of people with an immigrant background (immigrants and their children) grew from 49,323 in 2012 to 77,559 in 2016, making them 13.3% of the city's population (Leipzig's population 579,530 in 2016).[60]

The largest minorities (first and second generation) in Leipzig by country of origin in 2017 are:[61]

Culture, sights and cityscape

Architecture

The historic central area of Leipzig features a Renaissance-style ensemble of buildings from the 16th century, including the old city hall in the market place. There are also several baroque period trading houses and former residences of rich merchants. As Leipzig grew considerably during the economic boom of the late 19th century, the town has many buildings in the historicist style representative of the Gründerzeit era. Approximately 35% of Leipzig's flats are in buildings of this type. The new city hall, completed in 1905, is built in the same style.

Some 64,000 apartments in Leipzig were built in Plattenbau buildings during the Communist rule in East Germany.[62] and although some of these have been demolished and the numbers living in this type of accommodation have declined in recent years, at least 10% of Leipzig's population (50,000 people) are still living in Plattenbau accommodation.[63] Grünau, for example, has approximately 40,000 people living in this sort of accommodation.[64]

The St. Paul's Church was destroyed by the communists in 1968 to make room for a new main building for the university. After some debate, the city decided to establish a new, mainly secular building at the same location, called Paulinum, which was completed in 2012. Its architecture alludes to the look of the former church and it includes a room for religious use.

Many commercial buildings were built in the 1990s as a result of tax breaks after German reunification.

Tallest buildings and structures

The tallest structure in Leipzig is the chimney of the Stahl- und Hartgusswerk Bösdorf GmbH with a height of 205 metres (673 feet). With 142 metres (466 feet), the City-Hochhaus Leipzig is the tallest high-rise building in Leipzig. From 1972 to 1973 it was Germany's tallest building.

Museums and arts

One of the highlights of the city's contemporary arts was the Neo Rauch retrospective opening in April 2010 at the Leipzig Museum of Fine Arts. This is a show devoted to the father of the New Leipzig School[65][66] of artists. According to The New York Times,[67] this scene "has been the toast of the contemporary art world" for the past decade. In addition, there are eleven galleries in the so-called Spinnerei.[68]

Founded in March 2015, the G2 Kunsthalle houses the Hildebrand Collection.[71] This private collection focuses on the so-called New Leipzig School. Leipzig's first private museum dedicated to contemporary art in Leipzig after the turn of the millennium is located in the city centre close to the famous St. Thomas Church on the third floor of the former GDR processing centre.[72]

Main sights

Leipzig Zoological Garden is one of the most modern zoos in Europe with approximately 850 different species. It houses the world's largest zoological facilities for primates (Pongoland). Gondwanaland is the world's largest indoor rainforest hall.

St. Michael's Church with the headquarters of Stadtwerke Leipzig to the right.

Parks and lakes

Leipzig is well known for its large parks. The Leipziger Auwald (riparian forest) lies mostly within the city limits. Neuseenland is an area south of Leipzig where old open-cast mines are being converted into a huge lake district. It is planned to be finished in 2060.

Leipzig Botanical Garden is the oldest of its kind in Germany. It contains a total of some 7,000 species, of which nearly 3,000 species comprise ten special collections.

Johannapark and Clara-Zetkin-Park are the most prominent parks in the Leipzig city centre.

Leipziger Auwald covers a total area of approx. 2,500 hectares. The Rosental is a park in the north of the forest and borders Leipzig Zoo.

The Bach-Archiv Leipzig, an institution for the documentation and research of the life and work of Bach (and also of the Bach family), was founded in Leipzig in 1950 by Werner Neumann. The Bach-Archiv organizes the prestigious International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition, initiated in 1950 as part of a music festival marking the bicentennial of Bach's death. The competition is now held every two years in three changing categories. The Bach-Archiv also organizes performances, especially the international festival Bachfest Leipzig (de) and runs the Bach-Museum.

For over 60 years Leipzig has been offering a "school concert"[76] programme for children in Germany, with over 140 concerts every year in venues such as the Gewandhaus and over 40,000 children attending.

As for contemporary music, Leipzig is known for its independent music scene and subcultural events. Leipzig has for 20 years been home to the world's largest Gothic festival, the annual Wave-Gotik-Treffen (WGT), where thousands of fans of gothic and dark styled music from across Europe gather in the early summer. The first Wave Gotik Treffen was held at the Eiskeller club, today known as Conne Island, in the Connewitz district. Mayhem's notorious album Live in Leipzig was also recorded at the Eiskeller club.[77] Leipzig Pop Up is an annual music trade fair for the independent music scene as well as a music festival taking place on Pentecost weekend.[78] Its most famous indie-labels are Moon Harbour Recordings (House) and Kann Records (House/Techno/Psychedelic). Several venues offer live music on a daily basis, including the Moritzbastei[79] which was once part of the city's fortifications, and is one of the oldest student clubs in Europe with concerts in various styles. For over 15 years "Tonelli's"[80] has been offering free weekly concerts every day of the week, though door charges may apply Saturdays.

The cover photo for the Beirut band's 2005 album Gulag Orkestar, according to the sleeve notes, was stolen from a Leipzig library by Zach Condon.

The city of Leipzig is also the birthplace of Till Lindemann, best known as the lead vocalist of Rammstein, a band formed in 1994.

In May 2009 Red Bull entered the local market after being denied the right to buy into FC Sachsen Leipzig in 2006. The newly founded RB Leipzig declared the intention to come up through the ranks of German football to bring Bundesliga football back to the region.[88] RB Leipzig was finally promoted to the top level of the Bundesliga after finishing the 2015–16 2. Bundesliga season as runners-up.

List of Leipzig men and women's football clubs playing at state level and above:

Note 1: The RB Leipzig women's football team was formed in 2016 and began play in the 2016-17 season.
Note 2: The club began play in the 2008-09 season.

Ice hockey

Since the beginning of the 20th century Ice hockey gained popularity and several local clubs established departments dedicated to that sport.[89]

Handball

SC DHfK Leipzig is the men's handball club in Leipzig and were six times (1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1965 and 1966) the champion of East Germany handball league and was winner of EHF Champions League in 1966. They finally promoted to Handball-Bundesliga as champions of 2. Bundesliga in 2014–15 season. They play in the Arena Leipzig witch have a capacity of 6,327 spectators in HBL games but can take up to 7,532 spectators for handball in maximum capacity.

Handball-Club Leipzig is one of the most successful women's handball clubs in Germany, winning 20 domestic championships since 1956 and 3 Champions League titles. The team was however relegated to the third tier league in 2017 due to failing to achieve the economic standard demanded by the league licence.

Other sports

From 1950 to 1990 Leipzig was host of the Deutsche Hochschule für Körperkultur (DHfK, German College of Physical Culture), the national sports college of the GDR.

Leipzig also hosted the Fencing World Cup in 2005 and hosts a number of international competitions in a variety of sports each year.

Leipzig made a bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. The bid did not make the shortlist after the International Olympic Committee pared the bids down to 5.

Markkleeberger See is a new lake next to Markkleeberg, a suburb on the south side of Leipzig. A former open-pit coal mine, it was flooded in 1999 with groundwater and developed in 2006 as a tourist area. On its southeastern shore is Germany's only pump-powered artificial whitewater slalom course, Markkleeberg Canoe Park (Kanupark Markkleeberg), a venue which rivals the Eiskanal in Augsburg for training and international canoe/kayak competition.

Leipzig Rugby Club competes in the German Rugby Bundesliga but finished at the bottom of their group in 2013.[90]

Food and drink

Leipziger Lerche is a shortcrust pastry dish filled with crushed almonds, nuts and strawberry jam; the name ("Leipzig lark") comes from a lark pâté which was a Leipzig speciality until the banning of songbird hunting in Saxony in 1876.

Gose is a locally brewed top-fermenting sour beer that originated in the Goslar region and in the 18th century became popular in Leipzig.

Visual arts and theatre

The Academy of Visual Arts (Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst) was established in 1764. Its 530 students (as of 2006) are enrolled in courses in painting and graphics, book design/graphic design, photography and media art. The school also houses an Institute for Theory.

The University of Music and Theatre offers a broad range of subjects ranging from training in orchestral instruments, voice, interpretation, coaching, piano chamber music, orchestral conducting, choir conducting and musical composition to acting and scriptwriting.

University of Applied Science

The Leipzig University of Applied Sciences (HTWK)[92] has approximately 6,200 students (as of 2007) and is (as of 2007) the second biggest institution of higher education in Leipzig. It was founded in 1992, merging several older schools. As a university of applied sciences (German: Fachhochschule) its status is slightly below that of a university, with more emphasis on the practical part of the education. The HTWK offers many engineering courses, as well as courses in computer science, mathematics, business administration, librarianship, museum studies and social work. It is mainly located in the south of the city.

Economy

The city is a location for automobile manufacturing by BMW and Porsche in large plants north of the city. In 2011 and 2012 DHL transferred the bulk of its European air operations from Brussels Airport to Leipzig/Halle Airport. Kirow Ardelt AG, the world market leader in breakdown cranes, is based in Leipzig. The city also houses the European Energy Exchange, the leading energy exchange in Central Europe. With VNG – Verbundnetz Gas AG, one of Germany's large natural gas suppliers is headquartered at Leipzig. In addition, inside its larger metropolitan area, Leipzig has developed an important petrochemical center.

Some of the largest employers in the area (outside of manufacturing) include software companies such as Spreadshirt and the various schools and universities in and around the Leipzig/Halle region. The University of Leipzig attracts millions of euros of investment yearly and is in the middle of a massive construction and refurbishment to celebrate its 600th anniversary.

Leipzig also benefits from world leading medical research (Leipzig Heart Centre) and a growing biotechnology industry.[98]

Many bars, restaurants and stores found in the downtown area are patronized by German and foreign tourists. Leipzig Hauptbahnhof itself is the location of a shopping mall.[99] Leipzig is one of Germany's most visited cities with over 3 million overnight stays in 2017.[100]

In 2010, Leipzig was included in the top 10 cities to visit by The New York Times,[67] and ranked 39th globally out of 289 cities for innovation in the 4th Innovation Cities Index published by Australian agency 2thinknow.[101] In 2015, Leipzig have among the 30 largest German cities the third best prospects for the future.[102] In recent years Leipzig has often been nicknamed the "Boomtown of eastern Germany" or "Hypezig".[24] As of 2013 it had the highest rate of population growth of any German city.[25]

Media

MDR, one of Germany's public broadcasters, has its headquarters and main television studios in the city. It provides programmes to various TV and radio networks and has its own symphony orchestra, choir and a ballet.

Leipziger Volkszeitung (LVZ) is the city's only daily newspaper. Founded in 1894, it has published under several different forms of government. The monthly magazine Kreuzer specializes in culture, festivities and the arts in Leipzig. Leipzig was also home to the world's first daily newspaper in modern times. The "Einkommende Zeitungen" were first published in 1650.[103]

Leipzig has one daily or semi-daily English-language publication, "The Leipzig Glocal." It is an online-based magazine and blog that caters to an international as well as local audience.[104] Besides publishing pages on jobs, doctors and movies available in English and other languages, the site's team of authors writes articles about lifestyle, arts & culture, politics, entertainment, Leipzig events, etc.[105]

Once known for its large number of publishing houses, Leipzig had been called Buch-Stadt (book city).,[106] the most notable of them being branches of Brockhaus and Insel Verlag. Few are left after the years of economic decline during the German Democratic Republic, during which time Frankfurt developed as a much more important publishing center. Reclam, founded in 1828, was one of the large publishing houses to move away. Leipzig still has a book fair, but Frankfurt's is far bigger.

The German Library (Deutsche Bücherei) in Leipzig is part of Germany's National Library. Its task is to collect a copy of every book published in German.[107]

Quality of life

In December 2013, according to a study by Marktforschungsinstituts GfK, Leipzig was ranked as the most livable city in Germany[11][108] and is one of the three European cities with the highest quality of living (after Groningen and Kraków).[109] In 2015/2016, Leipzig is the second-best city for students in Germany (after Munich).[110]

In a 2017 study, the Leipzig inner city ranks first of all large cities in Germany due to its urban aesthetics, gastronomy and shopping opportunities.[111][112]

It has also the second-best future prospects of all cities in Germany, only surpassed by Munich.[10]

According to the 2017 Global Least & Most Stressful Cities Ranking Leipzig is one of the least stressful cities in the World. It's ranked on place 25th out of 150 cities worldwide an din Germany before Dortmund, Cologne, Frankfurt and Berlin.[113]

Transport

Road

Founded at the crossing of Via Regia and Via Imperii, Leipzig has been a major interchange of inter-European traffic and commerce since medieval times. After the Reunification of Germany, immense efforts to restore and expand the traffic network have been undertaken and left the city area with an excellent infrastructure.

Since 1936, Leipzig has been connected to the A 9 and A 14autobahns via the Schkeuditzer Kreuz (Schkeuditz Cross) interchange and several exits. The A 38 completed the autobahn beltway around Leipzig in 2006.

Like most German cities, Leipzig has a traffic layout designed to be bicycle-friendly. There is an extensive cycle network. In most of the one-way central streets, cyclists are explicitly allowed to cycle both ways. A few cycle paths have been built or declared since 1990.

Water

In the first half of the 20th century, the construction of the Elster-Saale canal, White Elster and Saale was started in Leipzig in order to connect to the network of waterways. The outbreak of the Second World War stopped most of the work, though some may have continued through the use of forced labor. The Lindenauer port was almost completed but not yet connected to the Elster-Saale and Karl-Heine canal respectively. The Leipzig rivers (White Elster, New Luppe, Pleisse, and Parthe) in the city have largely artificial river beds and are supplemented by some channels. These waterways are suitable only for small leisure boat traffic.

Through the renovation and reconstruction of existing mill races and watercourses in the south of the city and flooded disused open cast mines, the city's navigable water network is being expanded. The city commissioned planning for a link between Karl Heine Canal and the disused Lindenauer port in 2008. Still more work was still scheduled to complete the Elster-Saale canal. Such a move would allow small boats to reach the Elbe from Leipzig. The intended completion date has been postponed because of an unacceptable cost-benefit ratio.

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